RELATIVE NUMBER STATE REPRESENTATION AND PHASE OPERATOR FOR PHYSICAL SYSTEMS

A relative number state (RNS) representation of a system composed of two distinguishable subsystems is proposed. A phase variable as a quantum mechanical operator conjugate to a relative number operator is defined based on the RNS representation space. The phase operator is expressed as a unitary exponential operator. The properties of the relative number operator, the phase operator, and their eigenstates are investigated in detail. The phase variable has a maximum uncertainity in any stationary state. Also, a time operator as a dynamical variable can be defined in the RNS representation space. The RNS representation is closely related to the Liouville space formulation and to thermofield dynamics. The RNS representation is shown to be a suitable method for investigating the Josephson junction with ultrasmall capacitance. A basic formulation of number-phase quantization in the Josephson junction is given in terms of the RNS representation.